We dimpleheads welcome unofficial golf history wherever we find it, and Victor Dubuisson made some in the WGC-Match Play final. With the East Coast edginginto prime time, the French flat-liner gave the game a joltwith the three greatest consecutive up-and-downs everexecuted by a contender at the end of a tournament.For inside dope, such specialized data goes down with JerryBarber’s holed putts from 25, 40 and 52 feet on the final threeholes to get into a playoff for the 1961 PGA Championship. Asfor Dubuisson, that Golden Hands nickname is going to stick.

Of course, there should be a high standard for inclusion on
the game’s highlight reel, especially with so many new candidates via You Tube. New media actually provided validation in
Dubuisson’s case, as the estimable threesome of Gary Player,
Tom Watson and Nick Faldo ( 23 majors among them) all gave
their endorsement via Twitter.

Personally, I’ve always had a soft spot for such scramblingshots, having been a junior player whose customary 3-woodapproach to a par 4 rarely ran onto the green and usually left alot of recovery work. My inner motto was,“Where there’s a wedge, there’s a way.”It’s my secret bond with truly greatshort-game players, many of whom—including Player, Raymond Floyd, PhilMickelson and José Maria Olazábal—spent much of their childhoods inventingshots around a practice green. A fewyears ago John Anselmo, who coachedTiger Woods in his formative teens,pointed out a small practice green at Meadowlark GC inHuntington Beach, Calif., and said, “He didn’t hit a lot of balls.

That’s where he spent all his time, chipping and putting.”That formula of youthful immersion has influenced thenorm. “I see the young guys logging more time around theputting green,” says Deane Beman. “It’s made them way bet-ter at the ordinary shots.”It’s doubtful few young guys have logged more such timethan Dubuisson—considering that he quit school at 12 todevote himself to golf—which no doubt helped him achieve theextraordinary. But for all the tumult about his two recoveriesfrom cactus-bush-covered lies, my favorite was the sand shoton 18 that had to be nipped just so and landed precisely, withno acceptable in-between, to get into the playoff.

Still, that shot wouldn’t make my own top 10 of greatgreenside shots. Criteria: Has to be played while in seriouscontention, the later the better. Has to have a serious degreeof difficulty. Has to demonstrate tremendous skill and will.Points off for sheer luck. (A note: All took place in the finalround, and only Floyd and Woods didn’t win.)1. Raymond Floyd, 14th hole, 1992 Masters. Closed-down60-degree wedge lined into severe slope, ball pops up withspin and goes in. The ultimate shot.2. Corey Pavin, 14th hole, 2012 Allianz Championship(Champions Tour). Left-handed with a turned-over 8-ironfrom a deep rut next to a root, pitched to five feet to save par.3. Tiger Woods, 18th hole, 2001 World Cup. 60-degreewedge to a short-side pin from a severe downhill lie to uphillgreen, holed out to get the U.S. into a playoff.4. Tom Watson, 17th hole, 1982 U. S. Open. 58-degreewedge from downhill lie in deep rough, ball lands amazinglysoftly on baked green before rolling in.5. Charl Schwartzel, 1st hole, 2011 Masters. From animpossible angle right of the green, 100-foot bump-and-runwith a 6-iron goes in.6. Paul Azinger, 18th hole, 1993 Memorial. 60-degreewedge from deep bunker to short pin. Best reaction to a win-ning hole out ever.7. Ben Crenshaw, 13th hole, 1986 Buick Open. Left-hand-ed, turned-over 9-iron from under a tree struck so purely ballchecks to six feet.8. Ernie Els, 13th hole, 2002 British Open. Against thewall of a Muirfield pot bunker, swings hard at wide open59-degree to stop ball within inches.9. Phil Mickelson, playoff, 2013 Scottish Open. 64-degree wedge from dusty links lie, clips ball perfectly to spin itclose on rock-hard green for winning birdie.10. Seve Ballesteros, 18th hole, 1988 British Open.56-degree sand wedge from greenside rough, lips out shotwith perfect execution to clinch the win.Feel free to argue. Larry Mize didn’t make it for his 1987Masters chip-in because the shot wasn’t quite difficultenough. Bob Tway failed to qualify with his winning sand shotat the 1986 PGA because the hole got in the way.Harsh, I know. But it’s a list to aspire to. Just don’t let yourkid quit school at 12. N

Victor and the greenside greats

For all the tumult about Dubuisson’s two
recoveries from cactus-bush-covered lies, my
favorite was the sand shot that had to be nipped
just so. There was no acceptable in-between.
BY JAIME DIAZ